sprite 
When the frantick fltt intlamd his spritjU. 
His force was value. Spenser, F. tj., II. iv. 7. 
5f. Frame of mind; mood; humor; spirits: 
sometimes in the plural. 
With weary sprite he stretclit him up, ami thus he told 
ills plaint. Surrey, Complaint of a Uying Lover. 
Come, sisters, cheer we up his uprites. 
Shak., Macbeth, iv. 1. 127. 
Holy Sprite*. Same as Holy Spirit (which see, under 
spirit). 
sprite't (sprit), r. t. [< sprite 1 , .] To haunt, 
as a sprite. 
I am sprited with a fool. Shah., Cymbeline, 11. 3. 144. 
sprite-t, ". [Also upright; a var. form of 
sprift.] A. short aiTow intended to be iired 
from a musket. 
We had in use at one time for sea-fight short arrows, 
which they called spriyhte, without any other heads save 
wood sharpened ; which were discharged out of muskets, 
and would pierce through the sides of ships where a bullet 
would not. Bacon, Nat. Hist., 704. 
sprite 3 (sprit), . [A corruption of spite 2 , prop. 
"spight, a var. of speight: see speight.] The 
green woodpecker, (!<</ mis riridis. Also wood- 
spite, wood-spack. See cut under popinjay. 
[Prov. Eng.] 
spritedt (spri'ted), a. [Early mod. E. upright- 
ed; < sprite 1 + -ed 2 .] Mentally gifted ; quick- 
witted. 
A well spriffftted man and wise, that by his wisdome 
wrought . . . well. Hakluyt's Voyages, II. 75. 
spritefult, spritefullyt, etc. See spriglitful, 
etc. 
spriteliness, spritely. See sprightliness, etc. 
spritingt (spri ting), i. Same as spiriting. 
spritisnly (spri'tish-li), adv. [< *spritish (< 
sprite 1 + -ish 1 ) + -1y 2 .] In the manner of a 
sprite or an elf; hence, mischievously; imp- 
ishly. G. Harvey, Four Letters. 
spritsail (sprit'sal), . Naut.: (a) A sail ex- 
Spritsail-rigfied Boat. 
tended by a sprit, chiefly used in small boats. 
See sprit'-, 3. (6) A sail, no longer in use, at- 
tached to a yard 
slung across 
the bowsprit of 
large vessels, it 
was often pierced 
with a large hole 
at each of its lower 
corners, to let out 
the water with 
which the belly of 
it was frequently 
filled when the ship 
pitched. Spritsail 
Spritsails. 
a, spritsui! ; b, spritsail topsail; c, sprit- 
sail topgallantsail. 
topsails ana sprit- 
sail topgallantsails 
were also formerly 
used. Spritsail- 
yard, a yard formerly slung across the bowsprit to sup- 
port a spritsail. 
sprittail (sprit'tal), . The pintail duck, Da- 
Jila acuta. Also spreettail. [Local, U. S.] 
Sprittle (sprit'l), v. t. Same as spruttle. 
spritty(sprit'i),rt. [Also (Sc.) spritliy; (.sprit 2 
+ -y 1 .] Abounding in sprits or sprats (rushes). 
[Scotch.] 
Bis dead master . . . was lying in a little sprithy hol- 
low. Blackurood's Mag., XIII. 319. 
sprocket (sprok'et), . [Origin obscure.] 1. 
One of a series of projections in a grooved re- 
cess round the lower part of 
a ship's capstan, by which 
the chain-cable is grasped 
while heaving up anchor. 
2. One of the projections on 
a sprocket-wheel which en- 
gage the chain. 
sprocket-wheel (sprok'et- 
nwel), n. [< sprocket + 
wheel."} In mach., a wheel 
upon which are radial projections that engage 
the links of a chain passing over it. 
SprongH. An old preterit of spring. 
Sprocket-wheel. 
5867 
sprong' 2 (gproiiR), . [Appar. a var. of prong 2 .] 
1. A prong of a fork. etc. 2. The stump of 
a tree or a tooth. [Prov. Eng. in botli uses.] 
sprong 11 (sprong), n. [Cf. spruy, sprig 3 .] The 
sparrow, Passer domesticus. [Prov. Eng.] 
sproo, . See xprew. 
sproot (sprot), . A dialectal form of sprout. 
Sprot 1 ! (sprot), H. [Also dial, spruli-; < JIM. 
sprnlli; sprote, < AS. sprulu, sprout, stick, nail 
(= MD. sprot (>Wall. sprot), a sprout, sprote, 
sporte, a round of a ladder, = OHG. xprozo, 
sprozzo, MHG. sprozze, a round of a ladder, G. 
spross, sprout, twig, = Icel. xproti = OSw. 
sprotte, sprout, twig, stick), < spreotan, sprout: 
see sprout, v. Cf. sprout, n., sprit 1 , n., sprit".] 
1. A splinter; a fragment. 
Speiris into sj>rottes spronge ouer hede. 
Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. S.), 1. 5783. 
And thel broken here speres so rudely that the Tron- 
chouns Hen in sprotes and peces alle alioute the Halle. 
ilandemlle, Travels, p. 238. 
2. A rush: same as sprat 1 , 1. 
sprot 2 (sprot), n. [Early mod. E. also sprott, 
sprotte; < ME. sprot, sprott, sprote, a sprat 
(glossed by L. epimera, haleculti, OF. esplene), 
= MD. sprot = MLG. LG. sprot = Dan. spnit, 
a sprat ; so called as being orig. considered the 
young of the herring; lit. 'sprout,' i.e. 'young 
one,' a particular use of the noun represented 
by sprot 1 . Hence dial., and now reg., sprat: 
see spraft.] A. fish: same as sprat". Pals- 
grave; Day. 
sprottle (sprot'l), v. '. A provincial English 
rorm of sprattle. 
Sprout (sprout), v. [< ME. sprouten, sprowten, 
spruten, < AS. "sprittan, a var. otspredtan (pret. 
spredt, pp. sproten) = OFries. spruta = MD. 
spruyten, D. spruiten = MLG. spruten, LG. 
spruten = MHG. spriezen, G. spriesseti, sprout; 
not found outside of Teut. Hence ult. (< AS. 
"sprutan, spredtan) E. sprit 1 , v. (a secondary 
form of sprout), sprit 1 , ., sprot 1 , spurt 1 , spirt 1 , 
spirtle, spurtle, etc., spout, sputter, etc.] I. 
intrans. 1. To shoot forth, as a bud from a 
seed or stock; begin to grow; spring: said of 
a young vegetable growth, or, by extension, of 
animal growth. 
That leaf faded, but the young buds did sprout on ; which 
afterwards opened into fair leaves. Bacon, Nat. Hist., 407. 
A mouth is formed, and tentacles sprout forth around it. 
W. B. Carpenter, Micros., 517. 
2. To put forth shoots ; bear buds. 
The Night, to temper Dales exceeding drought, 
Moistens our Aire, and makes our Earth to sprout. 
Sylvester, tr. of Du Bartas's Weeks, i. 7. 
After a shower a meadow sprouts with the yellow buds 
of the dandelion. T. Winthrop, Love and Skates. 
3. To spring up; grow upward. 
To rain upon remembrance with mine eyes, 
That it may grow and sprout as high as heaven. 
Shak., 2 lien. IV., ii. 3. 60. 
These Vines I have scene grow so high that they have 
sprowted cleane above the toppe of the tree. 
Coryat, Crudities, I. 102. 
4. To spread into ramifications. 
Vitriol ... is apt to sprout with moisture. 
Bacon, Nat. Hist., 604. 
Sprouting fungi. See fungus. 
II. transTi. To produce or afford by sprout- 
ing; grow: as, to sprout antlers; to sprout a 
mustache. 
Trees old and young, sprouting a shady boon 
For simple sheep. Keats, Endymion, i. 
2. To remove sprouts from: as, to sprout pota- 
toes. [Prov. Eng. and U. S.] 
sprout (sprout), n. [< ME. sproute = MD. 
spruyte, D. spruite = MLG. LG. sprute, a 
sprout; from the verb. Cf. sprot 1 , sprit 1 , n.] 
1. A shoot of a plant, (a) The young shoot from 
a germinating seed, or from a rootstock, tuber, etc., or 
from the rooting tip of a stolon. (&) In a tree, a shoot, 
generally from an adventitious bud, as from the root (a 
sucker), the stump, or the trunk. 
Stumps of trees lying out of the ground will put forth 
sprouts tor a time. Bacon, Nat. Hist., f 29. 
Her [a vine's] highest sproot 
Is quickly levelled with her fading root. 
B. JoniOH, The Barriers. 
Specifically 2. pi. Young coleworts. A course 
Of sprouts, a thrashing with switches or rods ; a switch- 
ing ; a birching ; a instigation ; hence, severe discipline. 
ISlang, U. S.] Brussels sprouts, a subyartety of the 
Savoy cabbage, originating in Belgium, in which the 
stem, which grows some 4 feet high, produces along its 
whole length from the axils of the early deciduous leaves 
branches with miniature heads an inch or two thick. The 
main head is small and of little value, but the sprouts are 
highly esteemed. See cut in next column, and compare 
cut under broccoli. 
sprout-cell (sprout'sel), H. In fungi, a cell pro- 
duced by sprouting. 
spruce 
sprout-chain 
(sprout'chan), H. In 
fungi, a chain of 
cells produced iiy 
sprouting. 
sprouted (sprou'- 
ted), a. Having 
sprouts; budded: as, 
sprouted potatoes. 
Tlit- wheat was gent-r- 
ally sprouted throughout 
the country, and unfit for 
bread. 
Lady Holland, Sydney 
[Smith, vil. 
sprout-gemma 
(sprout ' jem " a), . 
In fungi, a gemma 
having the form of a 
septate confervoid 
filament, the seg- 
ments of which are 
capable of sprout- 
ing. DeBltllJ. Brussels Sprouts tSrassica clrrarta, 
sprout-germination var. f,mmif, r ai. 
(sprout'jer - mi - na''- 
shon), . In hot., the germination of a spore in 
which a small process with a narrow base pro- 
trudes at one or more points on the surface of 
the spore, then assumes an elongated cylindri- 
cal form, and finally is detached as a sprout- 
cell. De Vary. 
sprouting (sprou'ting), n. 1. In fungi, same 
as pullulation, 2. 2. Same as spitting, 2. 
spruce 1 ! (spros), n. [An abbr. of Spruce leather, 
also Pruce leather, where Spruce or Pruce is an 
attributive use of the older E. name of Prussia; 
< ME. Spruce, a variant, with unorig. initial S-, 
of Pruce, Prus, Pruys (also in comp. Pruslond. 
Pruyslond), < OF. Pruce (F. Prusse), < ML. 
Prussia (G. Preussen = D. Pruissen = Sw. Dan. 
Preussen), Prussia: see Prussian. The name 
Spruce, Prussia, was not only used in the phrase 
Spruce leather, or Pruce leather, but also in con- 
nection with fashionable apparel ("appar- 
reyled after the manner of Prussia or Spruce," 
Hall, Henry VIII., an. 1), and also allusively, 
somewhat like Cockayne, as a land of luxury 
( ' ' He shall Hue in the land of Spruce, milke and 
hony flowing into his mouth sleeping" Chap- 
man, " Masque of Middle Temple and Lin- 
coln's Inn"). Hence prob. the adj. spruce 2 . Cf. 
spruce 2 .] Prussian leather. Compare Pruce. 
Spruce, corium pumicatum. 
Levins, Manip. Vocab. (E. E. T. S.), p. 182. 
spruce 2 (spros), a. [Sc. also sprttsh ; prob. an 
extended use of spruce 1 , in allusion to fashion- 
able apparel: see spruce 1 . This adjective can- 
not be derived, as some attempt to derive it, 
from ME. prous, preus, < OF. pro:, F. prcux, 
brave, etc. (see prow 2 ), or from E. dial, sprug 1 
or sprack.] 1 . Smart in dress and appearance ; 
affecting neatness or dapperness, especially in 
dress; trim; hence often, with a depreciatory 
force, dandified; smug. 
Now, my spruce companions, is all ready, and all things 
neat? Shak, T. of the S., iv. 1. 116. 
Be not in so neat and spruce array 
As if thou mean's! to make It holiday. 
Beaumont, Remedy of Love. 
A spruce young spark of a Learned Clerk. 
Barham, Ingoldsby Legends, I. 227. 
2. Over-fastidious; excessively nice ; finical. 
Taffeta phrases, silken terms precise, 
Three-piled hyperboles, spruce affectation. 
Shak., L. L. L., v. 2. 407. 
The niceties of a spruce understanding. 
Jer. Taylor, Sermons, III. iii. 
= Syn. Foppish, etc. (see finicaf), smart, jaunty, nice, dan- 
dyish. 
spruce 2 (spros), v. ; pret. and pp. spruced,, ppr. 
sprucing. [< spruce 2 , a.] I. trans. 1. To make 
spruce ; trim or dress so as to present a smart 
appearance : sometimes followed by up. 
Salmacis would not be seen of Hermaphroditus till she 
had spruced up her self first. Burton, Anat. of Mel., p. 335. 
2. To brown, as the crust of bread, by heating 
the oven too much. Halliirell. [Prov. Eng.] 
II. intrans. To become spruce; assume or 
affect an air of smartness in dress : often fol- 
lowed by up. [Chiefly colloq.] 
But two or three years after, all of a sudden, Dench. he 
seemed to kind o' spruce up and have a deal o' money to 
spend. H. B. Stowe, Oldtown, p. 193. 
spruce 3 (spros), n. [An abbr. of spruce-fir.] 
A coniferous tree of the genus Picea ; a spruce- 
fir. The species are handsome evergreens of a conical 
habit, often of great economic worth. Some related trees 
are also called spruce. See specific names below. 
